418 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



A Comparative Table. 



January Equivalent to May at Nantucket. 



February Equivalent to May at Atlantic City. 



March - Equivalent to May at Norfolk. 



April -. Equivalent to May at Portland. 



May Equivalent to May at New Haven. 



June.- Equivalent to May at New York. 



July Equivalent to May at Philadelphia. 



August... Equivalent to May at Washington. 



September - Equivalent to May at Brooklyn. 



October - .Equivalent to May at New London. 



November Equivalent to May at Portland. 



December Equivalent to May at Portland. 



From these comparisons it will be plainly seen that there is no winter 

 here in Santa Barbara, and almost as plainly that there is no summer. 

 The difference in temperature of the two seasons being really less than the 

 difference between May at Portland and May at Philadelphia. The four 

 seasons elsewhere can hardly be said to have any place in our calendar, for 

 they are here strangely stirred up together, resulting, as shown above, in a 

 perpetual spring. 



Not only does the thermometer show this, but vegetation here confirms 

 it. Green peas and strawberries are perennial, and so are the ordinary 

 garden vegetables. Some trees blossom in the fall, others in the winter 

 and spring, while roses and many other flowers are always in bloom. 



WIND AND DUST. 



For the information of such as would like to come here and are kept 

 away by the report in " Harper's Magazine " that Santa Barbara is a windy 

 place, with frequent dust storms, and also subject to fogs, it may be well to 

 admit that we do have dust storms in summer like all other places in 

 Southern California, as well as fogs; but the dust storms are not frequent, 

 but of rare occurrence, and owing to our sheltered position, less violent than 

 elsewhere. Five in a year would probably exceed the average, only one 

 having occurred this year since July. 



FOGS FROM THE OCEAN. 



Fogs, except on the ocean, can hardly be said to be common in any 

 season. The nearness of the Santa Ynez Range to the coast creates an 

 upward current of air which generally carries the fog, when there is any, 

 far above the earth, and lodges it near the summit of the mountains. From 

 there it not frequently extends out like a canopy, covering half the sky. 

 It is the custom here to call these fogs; but they have little or no effect 

 upon the surface of the ground. The grass and leaves remain dry, and 

 were the mountains not in the background, would be seen only as ordinary 

 clouds. 



Our real fogs, those on the surface, occur mainly at night; sometimes 

 flowing in from the Pacific about sunset and disappearing soon after sun- 

 rise in the morning; but more frequently rising late in the evening and 

 disappearing again so early in the morning that but few persons would 

 know of there having been any, were it not for the moisture they deposit. 



But so far from this place being windy, as asserted, it is, we believe, not 

 only the least so of any part of California, but will in that respect compare 

 favorably with a,ny other place in the Northern Hemisphere. The strong 

 winds that prevail so generally along the Pacific Coast are here almost or 

 quite unknown. Even a stiff breeze, except during a storm, is of rare 

 occurrence. 



